Sri Lankan Parliament to reconvene on Nov 14: Sirisena

TIL Desk/World/Colombo/Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has announced that the country’s Parliament will be reconvened on November 14, amid rising demands by legislators of the state to end the mounting political crisis in the island nation.

A report said that the decision drew strong criticism from the supporters of the country’s ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party, who even termed the order to be “too late”.

UNP supporters also condemned Sirisena’s decision to recall parliament two days prior to the initial suspension order against Wickremesinghe, describing the move to be “eyewash to appease the ever-increasing international and local pressure.”

Sri Lanka has been witnessing political turmoil over the past three weeks, after Sirisena, on October 27, suspended the country’s parliamentary proceedings until November 16. He also announced his decision to sack Wickremesinghe and replace him with former president Mahinda Rajapaksa following the collapse of the governing Sri Lanka Freedom Party coalition.

The Tamil National Alliance, a coalition of parties representing the Tamils, vowed on Sunday that its 15 members would back the no-confidence motion against Rajapaksa.